Yarkosky, Brown pace Simpson in win over Luther

CEDAR RAPIDS - Drew Yarkosky drove in two runs, Paul Brown went the distance on the mound and No. 4 seeded Simpson beat No. 5 seeded Luther in the first round of the Iowa Conference Baseball Tournament on Thursday afternoon at Daniels Park.

The Storm (22-16) advance to face No. 1 seeded Coe (29-10) at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Thursday evening at 7 p.m. Links to live stats and live video can be found on the Iowa Conference Tournament Webpage.

Simpson built a 6-0 lead in the first three innings, getting RBIs from Yarkosky (Albia, Iowa) in the first and second innings. He finished the game 3-for-4 with a walk and a run scored.

Brown (Polk City, Iowa) gave up seven hits and five runs - two earned - in the complete-game win. The right-hander (6-3) struck out three, walked one and benefitted from two, inning-ending 5-4-3 double plays.

The Norse (23-18) battled back with three unearned runs in the sixth inning thanks to three Simpson errors. But Luther returned the favor in the eighth inning, as a throwing error resulted in two Simpson runs and an 8-3 lead.

Brown allowed two runs to score in the top of the ninth and had runners on first and second before getting Chris Erikson to ground out to first.

Colton Calvert (St. Charles, Iowa) went 3-for-5 and Brad Agan (Knoxville, Iowa) went 2-for-4 with two triples and an RBI.

Augie Lindmark (6-5) was charged the loss. He went three innings, allowing eight hits and six runs - all earned. In his start against Simpson in the regular season, he went seven innings in a 2-1 loss, allowing six hits and two runs. The Norse will face No. 6 seeded Central at 10 a.m. Friday.